


As Long As You Love Me So

by Cefhclwords



Series: Ficmas 2019 [5]
Category: Men's Football RPF
Genre: Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Angst with a Happy Ending, Christmas, Conflict, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Ficmas, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Minor Injuries, Snow, fight
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-16
Updated: 2019-12-16
Packaged: 2021-02-26 05:41:00
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,251
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21818317
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cefhclwords/pseuds/Cefhclwords
Summary: Day 5 of the 12 days of FicmasBased on the Prompt: We got into an argument because of something stupid, but I slipped on ice on the stairs. I called you to help me, and our fight was forgotten when you got all worried
Relationships: Dele Alli/Eric Dier
Series: Ficmas 2019 [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1568377
Comments: 10
Kudos: 63





	As Long As You Love Me So

**Author's Note:**

> Day 5!!!!! Hey lil cuties! I hope you're having a good day and getting well in the Christmas mood now!! :) this one is a little bit more angsty but still has some cute sweetness because I'm soft!! as this is something a little different I'd love to hear your feedback as always and Kudos!!! <3 I hope you enjoy iy and thank you so much for all the sweet feedback you have given me so far, its made me so happy! love you all a lot <3

“Fuck you” Dele spat out, voice thick with cruelty as he slammed the door shut with a resounding shake, making the frame rattle with the movement. 

The freezing winter air bit into Dele’s skin immediately, sharp and prickled at his fingertips and biceps, goosebumps rippled along his skin and a heavy shiver tore through him that rocked his shoulders and made the muscles in his stomach jump. Fuck. 

The inside of their home was always toasty hot during winter. Dele ran freezing, not just cold most of the time and Eric always made sure to keep the fire in their living room and bedroom running, to have extra blankets throughout the house for him. 

It was easy to forget it was below zero outside when their home was so warm and Dele was now in the falling snow in a thin black t-shirt and sweatpants and a pair of slowly dampening socks. 

Great, Dele thought sarcastically as he scrubbed a palm over his eyes, let out a heavy sigh and hung his head back. What a perfect fucking night, a screaming fight with Eric and now his toes were steadily going numb. 

Dele picked his head up and looked out up to the end of Eric’s gate in the distance, let his eyes scan the large wreath that was attached to the front of it, a mix of red, green, navy blue decorations and fairy lights.

It was only a week out from Christmas, and they had decorated the home earlier in the month, snuggled up in beanies and scarves and thick jackets they had put up lights outside and a big Christmas tree in the living room. Eric had tackled Dele into the snow when he was distracted getting the lights to fit correctly to the tree by their front door, laughed into his mouth as he kissed him, his cold lips and frostbitten pink cheeks. He’d kissed him until they were too cold, trembling with it. 

Eric had scooped Dele out of the snow when his teeth were chattering too much to kiss, carried him up to the bathroom and ran them a hot bath. 

They’d spent hours fooling around and warming up in the water, refilling the bath over and over when it grew cold. 

Another violent shiver rocked through Dele at the memory and he wrapped his arms around his own waist, held tight to himself and let out a heavy breath. 

How’d they’d gone from that to this, Dele outside their home with tears of frustration in his eyes and a sick feeling in the pit of his stomach- Dele didn’t understand. Or maybe he did understand and didn’t want to.

Dele gripped harder to his own hips, dug his nails in and breathed in deep and slow. 

He was thankful that he had his phone in his pocket at least, maybe he could call Harry to come and get him, he could sleep the night there and deal with all this tomorrow. Or, maybe he could just stay the whole weekend at Harry’s, maybe some distance was what they really needed. Maybe if he just left it alone for a few days it would all go away and Eric all would be forgotten. 

Maybe was Dele was running away from it and that was part of the problem. 

He shook his head before he dropped it back, looked up at the pitch-black sky and wondered if it would snow tomorrow. 

Usually, if it was a snowy morning the pair would make the most of it, Eric and Dele would get out of bed early and rug up, make tea and go outside and make snowballs and usually muck around in the snow until Dele’s hands and nose were numb and Eric can’t warm him up with kisses anymore. 

Eric would make a big fuss, saying he wants to stay out for longer but Dele tempts him with promises of a good movie and cuddles. They’d spend the rest of a snow day inside with each other, tangled up under layers of blankets, watching the worst movies they could find on Netflix, talking shit and playing the odd video game. Those were Dele’s favourite days, when they could just hide away from the rest of the world and be together. 

Dele inhaled sharply, felt a pain twist in his chest at the cold air and he had to squeeze his eyelids shut tight against the tears welling there.

He just wanted it to be good again, he wanted to be inside with Eric, to be half asleep in his arms on the couch. The tears spilled over heavily, wet his cheeks and he bit down hard into his lips to muffle the sob that lingered there. 

His chest got tighter and tighter and his vision blurred a bit, his hands trembled as he pictured Eric’s face bitter and mean as he said “you always do this” how when Dele said he wanted to leave, Eric said “good”. 

Fuck, he kind of couldn’t breathe, his stomach lurched heavily and his chest was somehow getting tighter still, he pressed his hands to his chest and tried to breathe, the sound sharp and wheezing, maybe he just needed more fresh air, maybe that would help.

Without further thought, Dele began toward the stairs that lead down from their font step, blinking harshly to force the tears from his vision. 

His foot placed steadily on the top step but his second footing wasn’t quite right, the movement was too quick and he foot came out from under him, slipping on a smooth patch of ice that had settled on the edge of the step.

His feet fumbled for traction but failed, and Dele’s feet slipped from under him, tipping him back into a fall. He slammed the centre of his back against the ledge of one of the steps as he came down. His head was somehow pillowed by his arms that was second to make impact with the ground, before it fell to the side and his forehead smacked against a hunk of ice. Dele let out a yell as he went down, but was breathless once he landed on his back, panted desperately as he tried to draw in breaths through the pain, vision fuzzy and blurred out in white and black spots. 

He couldn’t even sense where or which way he was lying right now. His fingers wiggled uselessly in a vague attempt to find something to help him, maybe get him up off the ice. 

The attempt proved futile and Dele gave up on getting up, tried to focus on breathing instead. He fought the urge he had to close his eyes, no matter how often his eyes dipped shut he fought them back open. 

If Dele had learnt anything from football injuries, it was that when you hit your head you never gave into that sleepy, heavy feeling. He tried to count to eleven as he breathed in and then seven as he breathed out, the breathing pattern his mum had taught him to help him settle after nightmares at a young age. 

Dele was on his second count of eleven when he heard the noisy latch of their front door, his mind went hazy and his eyes closed at the sound, maybe he could rest his eyes for just a second before he tried again to get up. 

His eyes pulled open in a slow blink when he felt a hand on his cheek, a frantic buzzing passing his ears. He groaned at the sound, tried to focus his gaze and his eyes finally settled on Eric kneeling over him, eyes fearful and mouth moving fast. Oh, the buzzing sound was Eric’s voice. Dele breathed deeply and tried to focus on the words Eric was saying, looking at his mouth to concentrate on understanding him. 

“What happened? How did you- Del can you hear me?” Dele managed to make out and he nodded as he felt Eric’s hand come under his head to cradle it, separating it from the cold ice.

“M’ok, slipped” Dele groaned, slowly began to sit up, now that Eric had his head off the ice it felt easier. 

“Come here baby, careful” Eric mumbled and wrapped an arm around the low of Dele’s back to help him sit up, had set himself on the ice and curled Dele into his chest, let his head rest in the curve of his neck. 

Eric’s bands brushed over Dele’s back, the backs of his arms, his neck up through his hair, and Dele let out a small delayed sob, his breath hiccuping. 

The shock of the fall had passed as the fear settled thick and tight around his chest, a feeling of sick rolling in the pit of his stomach. He could have- what if his head hit the stair the wrong angle- he blinked harshly and tangled up a hand tight in the front of Eric’s jumper, wrapped an arm around Eric’s neck and let out a small whisper of “Eric”. Eric just shushed him, rubbed down his back and began to make slow circles of his flat palm low on Dele’s back. 

“I’ve got you now, it’s ok, you just fell it’s okay, you’re not bleeding” Eric whispered into Dele’s ear, pressed a soft kiss there and bundled him up tighter in his arms, his voice shaky. Dele forced himself to focus on the slow pace of Eric’s breaths, the rise and fall of his chest, the way Eric was petting at his back. He was okay, he was safe. “Let’s get you inside okay baby? It’s too cold out here, can have a proper look at you make sure you’re okay” Eric cooed, his arm moving under the bend of Dele’s knees, his hand that was on his back moving to secure around his waist.

Dele nodded and Eric slowly stood with Dele in his arms, kissed Dele’s cheek and nose and temple, made sure he had Dele secure in his arms before he slowly made his way up the stairs. “It’s ok sweetheart, it’s okay” Eric muttered under his breath as he moved them, reached out to push open the front door, taking Dele back into the warm, cosy air of the home. 

“There we go” Eric said under his breath as he walked them into the living room, sat down on the couch with Dele in his lap. Dele shivered as a wave of panic rocketed through him, makes his spine burn and his heartache heavy with guilt. What if he’d hit his head- the ugly thought came back, what if he’d hit his head and the last thing he’d said to Eric was ‘fuck you’. Another sob fell from his lips and the tears in Dele’s eyes spilled out heavily, wet his cheeks as he tightened his grip on Eric. 

“I’m sorry I’m sorry - I didn’t mean” Eric just shook his head and pressed his lips to the top of Dele’s head, shushed him gently. “Doesn’t matter now, doesn’t matter, Love you so much” he whispered, his voice a promise as he tugged a thick blanket from where it was hung over the back of the couch. 

He wrapped it around Dele’s shoulders, and the freezing boy leant back into it, let Eric tuck the fabric securely around his body. Eric’s hand settled on the back of Dele’s neck, squeezed once and then his thumb rubbed back and forth against Dele’s hairline. The boy was shaking not just from the cold air but also from the delayed adrenaline rush of the fall, and trying to fathom the fact he was actually ok. Dele’s tears fell to sniffles as he let the feeling of Eric’s hand on his neck steady him, focused on the fact he was inside and safe now to calm him. Eric had him, he’d be ok. 

“Let me have a look at you yeah” Eric whispered, after a few moments, tried to encourage Dele to pull back from where he had hidden himself into Eric’s chest. Dele resisted the movement and tried to burrow tighter to Eric, he felt safe there and was scared to know if he’d hurt himself badly. “Come on baby, need to make sure you’re ok” Eric pleaded gently, his fingers ran up into Dele’s hair very lightly combing through. Dele nodded after a moment, drew in a slow breath and pulled away from Eric’s chest. 

Eric was quick to gather Dele’s face in his hands, smile at him softly before he leant in to press a feather-light kiss to his lips, and then his nose before he pulled away to look at him. Dele just watched Eric as the man looked over him, touched his face and head, touched at his shoulders and his chest, looking to his eyes to see if it caused pain.

“What did you hit first?” Eric asked and Dele blinked slowly before he mumbled “back” before he explained properly. “Middle of my back on the stair and then I think my arm and then my head hit my arm but the side of my head kinda hit the step” Dele spoke softly, reached up to rub at his eyes. “Can I take a look?” Eric asked, pressed a kiss to Dele’s cheek and Dele nodded, shrugged out of the blanket with slow movements and sat forward as much as he could manage, let Eric tug his shirt up. 

“Oh baby” Eric’s voice was soft, empathetic and Dele let out a worried little huff, but Eric soothed him with a soft peck at the top of his spine, his fingers brushed ever so gently over Dele’s back, just above where it throbbed in pain. “Think it will just be a really really deep bruise Del, it’s already dark purple” he mumbled, tugged Dele’s shirt back down and fit the blanket back over his shoulders. 

“We can get the medical team to check it out tomorrow okay? Don’t think you’ll be able to train but they can have a look and figure out what you’ll need yeah?” Eric smiled and Dele gave him a tiny smile back, nodded and tilted his head up for a kiss which Eric happily gave him. 

“Where did you hit your head?” Eric asked, and Dele reached up to point at the skin above his right brow, winced are the feeling of his finger brushing it. “Just here” he mumbled and Eric nodded, pressed a kiss to Dele’s nose. 

“Feel ok? No dizziness? Drowsiness? No nausea” Eric asked and Dele shook his head slowly, his head gave a dull throb at the movement and he wrinkled his nose at the feeling. “No, no felt kinda drowsy after I hit it when I was lying there but now it’s just like throbbing” he mumbled, my back is killing me too” Dele added. 

Eric hummed and bit into his bottom lip, brow furrowed with worry as he looked over Dele. Dele smiled softly, Eric always looked so gorgeous like this, all worried over him- his heart was so big. Dele’s smile collapsed into a frown, lips pushed down as tears filled his eyes. “I’m sorry” he whimpered, reached out to take one of Eric’s hands in his own, squeezed so tight his fingers hurt with it. 

“I told you to fuck off and I- it was so stupid and I just, you’re so good to me I didn’t-“ Eric leant in, cut off Dele’s words with a kiss, pecked him twice before he pulled away, bumped their noses together. Dele sniffled and let out a wet laugh, blinked hard to push away any excess tears. 

“I didn’t mean what I said either Del, It was dumb and it doesn’t matter, I’m just glad you’re okay, you scared me” Eric whispered, the words made Dele smile, lean in to kiss Eric again gently. 

“I love you, thank you for saving me” Dele laughed again softly, tucked a kiss to Eric’s cheek and the corner of his mouth.

“Anytime” Eric answered, shuffled Dele so he was sat in his lap facing him, his thighs on either side Eric’s, the blanket hanging off Dele’s shoulders like a cape. 

Eric reached for the edges of the blanket, made fists in the material and pulled gently until Dele’s forehead was pressed to his own, wrapped the edges of blanket behind his own shoulders, the pair of them bundled together. 

Eric reached up and took Dele’s hands in his face, rubbed his thumb back and forth under his eye.

“Are you sure you’re ok? You terrified me- seeing you laying there, I- my heart just-“ Eric whispered, his words under his breath, and kissed Dele’s cheek. 

“Yeah, just really sore” Dele whispered back and frowned, turned his head to chase Eric’s mouth, gave him a feather-soft kiss before he pulled back.

“Come on, let's get you some painkillers and into a hot shower huh? we can get into bed and forget today yeah?” Eric mumbled, leant up into another kiss, a slow drag of lips that promised all way forgiven, a kiss that welcomed Dele home, told him the stupid fights didn’t matter, nothing ever mattered more than this. 

“Del” Eric sighed, tucked his face into Dele’s shoulder and kissed over the soft fabric that covered Dele’s shoulder, nuzzled his nose into it in lazy circles. 

Dele just nodded, because yeah, he got it too. He wrapped his arms around Eric’s neck, cuddled him into his body and kissed his blond hair, breathed him in for a moment. 

Slipping on the ice, falling to his back, nearly hitting his head. The cold air, the dark night, Eric’s hands on his face. Falling, slipping on the ice and the moment his back hits the concrete, the crack of it, the feeling of his fingers grappling uselessly to get himself up. Telling Eric fuck you, falling to the ice, that very last second before his back hit the ground first before his head did. 

“Love you amor” Dele mumbled, turned his head in to smooth kisses along Eric’s hairline, curled his hands tight into Eric’s jumper. Eric’s arms, Eric’s smile, the way Eric looks at him when he comes home after a long day. Eric’s lips, Eric’s voice, the way he yelled at sports games. Eric’s arms, his neck, his legs, how he always reach for Dele when he crawled into bed, no matter how long he’d been sleeping for. 

Telling Eric ‘fuck you’ and not meaning a single word of it, over something so small so meaningless. 

Eric’s grip just tightened on Dele, his arms secure around his body, hands flat to his back, pressed him in tight. “Love you” Eric breathes back, the words pressed into Dele’s shoulder. 

Telling Eric fuck you, Slipping in the ice, nearly hitting his head, and Eric had him right here in his arms holding him together. 

Dele fell asleep on his tummy that night, arms curled under his pillow with Eric’s mouth smudging kisses just underneath the blooming bruise on the skin on his back. 

He falls asleep to the sound of Eric muttering about what Christmas movie they should watch tomorrow and how he is going to talk to the medical team to see if a heat pack or ice pack would be better for the pain. 

He falls asleep in the bed that smells like them, the dogs sleeping soundly in the corner. 

He falls asleep knowing everything will be alright.


End file.
